WESTWOOD—The Borough Council on Tuesday honored a citizen who has more than made her mark in town; she’s spent decades helping inspire generations to a love of the written word that further defines and celebrates the community.
Barbara Stewart, whom many know for her strong voice and probing curiosity, stood humbly while Borough Clerk Karen Hughes read into the record a mayoral proclamation thanking her for the rich variety of ways she’s served Westwood for the past 45 years while she and her husband, David, raised four sons.
The list is long, ranging and illuminating.
Following the reading, delivered at a special meeting of the borough council July 18, Stewart received another honor: a gift from the Westwood Public Library that has been given only once before in the 90-plus years of the library’s existence, and that to the memory of Benjamin Franklin.
The proclamation, signed by Mayor John Birkner Jr., enshrines the facts and sends the Stewarts off to their new home in West Palm Beach, Fla., with a borough’s love: Stewart is a founding member of the Westwood Heritage Society; a former president, vice-president and long-time member of the Pascack Valley Literacy Volunteers Board; a former Cub Scout den leader and committee chairperson of Westwood Boy Scout Troop 350; an emeritus member of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Board of Governors; a former trustee of the Dr. David Goldberg Child Care Center; a member of the Westwood Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary (two of her sons serve in the fire department, one as a lieutenant); and a congregant at St. Andrew’s Church, where she has served as a lay minister, teacher and program coordinator.
“Whereas, if that wasn’t enough,” pivots the proclamation, Stewart has spent more than 25 years serving as a trustee, and for a time vice-president, on the Westwood Public Library Board.
Then there’s her journalism service: Stewart was an award-winning editor for North Jersey Media, including The Record and Pascack Valley Community Life. She planned and implemented the library’s renovation, and conceived and realized the annual Taste of Westwood fundraiser.
Through it all, the proclamation explains, “Stewart has enthusiastically participated in all aspects of library board membership, with the understanding that all her efforts, no matter how routine or seemingly unrelated to the library’s mission, would help the Westwood library inspire a love for the written word and make it available at no cost to current and future generations of Westwood residents.”
“All who know her,” Hughes continued reading, “know that her heart will remain with the Westwood library and she will no doubt be quick to answer any call to draw on her expertise and insight.”
In Franklin’s footsteps
Dennis Farrell, president of the board of trustees of Westwood Public Library, then spoke to bestow a special library award on Stewart that he explained had only been given once before, posthumously, to Benjamin Franklin, the father of the American public library system.
“You will always be welcome at Westwood Public Library, so to get through the front door we have this key,” he told Stewart, handing over a large, Colonial-styled metal key amid laughter and applause.
Stewart’s remarks to the council were brief. “I really appreciate this honor and am grateful to have been able to help the residents of Westwood through my various volunteer activities over the years,” she said.
In the hall outside the council meeting room, leaving a reading of dry financial reports to continue, Stewart gave her own career summation to the Pascack Press.
“Time flies when you’re having fun. I’ve enjoyed it. I’m a people person,” she said.
She added that she’s always felt that a newspaper should not only inform, it should also educate readers.
“That was my greatest role as an editor. I was so grateful when someone would delightedly share that they learned something special or something they didn’t know before and was helpful to them after reading an article in the paper. That always made me so happy because I’ve always liked to help people,” she said.